Oak Park, River Forest: Welcome To Western Suburbs` Odd Couple

February 26, 1986|By R. Bruce Dold.

They are sometimes reluctant sister cities: the wealthy, homogeneous community of River Forest and the progressive, melting-pot village of Oak Park. Their village presidents each like to note their differences with just a hint of rivalry, yet the two towns share a common history, a small pocket of the western suburbs and one very important factor: a volunteer spirit.

Hundreds of residents in Oak Park and River Forest give up their evening hours, their Saturday afternoons, their lunchtimes, to work for the many organizations that make these towns so vibrant. Those volunteers are the lifeblood of such groups as the Oak Park-River Forest Community of Churches, the Community Chest, the Hunger Task Force, the Infant Welfare Society and the Pony League. Few suburbs can claim to have such a deep volunteer corps.

``Oak Park has been an activist community for a long, long time`` said Oak Park Village President Clifford Osborn. ``Oak Park is a vibrant, alive, committed community. It is not complacent.``

Perhaps Oak Park refuses to be complacent because it has seen what happens when communities, including some of its poorer neighbors on the West Side of Chicago, are neglected. Unwilling to jettison the human and financial investments that have been made in Oak Park since it was incorporated in 1901, the village has been a pioneer on such progressive issues as housing, integration and banning handguns.

``We`re a problem-solving community. We don`t wait for the marketplace or public opinion to settle on an answer,`` Osborn said. ``For instance, we`ve put a great deal of effort into inspection programs to be sure we are not an incipient slum.``

In a joint venture handled by the Oak Park Fire Department and the village housing inspection division, inspectors routinely walk alleys and streets and note the exteriors of single-family homes. Property owners that have let their land slip are strongly urged to bring their dwellings back up to code.

Oak Park has recently negotiated an agreement to help private developers finance a new, 125-unit family apartment building that will be erected on the site of the former village hall and storage building. It will be designed in keeping with the Prairie School of architecture so prevalent in the onetime hometown of Frank Lloyd Wright. Town officials are also trying to attract a major hotel for Oak Park to spur further economic development.

When village property values began to decline in the early 1970s and some longtime residents feared a ``white flight`` to outlying suburbs, Oak Park responded. The Oak Park Development Corp. has been a leader in encouraging private sector involvement in community economic development. The Oak Park Housing Center has drawn national attention for its careful attention to orderly integration of the suburb.

Despite its keen awareness of state-of-the-art social planning, Oak Park has also kept in touch with its past. That is most notable to outsiders through the Frank Lloyd Wright tours and the Ernest Hemingway tributes, but a more subtle reminder of that past may be found on Ontario Street, where the stately Oak Park Club is found.

The club, founded in 1893, was once the symbol of Oak Park society, albeit a more closed society than is found today. Its strict quotas on Catholic and Jewish members are gone, as are Oak Park`s unwritten boundaries on where those residents could live. The club`s quiet elegance mixed with efficient utility remains; the club`s fireplaces have been restored, and its swimming pool, sauna and whirlpools are open to all village residents.

Oak Park officials say they know that the town has hardly solved all of its problems. Much of its housing stock is 50 to 60 years old and could fall to disrepair if not carefully watched. The town has struggled to enhance its economic base without the luxury of nearby open spaces to annex for new tax-generating shopping malls. Oak Park has one of the highest property taxes in the Chicago area: the price, perhaps, of expecting so much from itself.

Stately River Forest shares many organizations with Oak Park, but it is a different community with a quieter profile than its neighbor. ``They`re willing to let us take the heat for development and new programs,`` said Oak Park`s Osborn.

``We`re a more conservative community,`` said River Forest Village President Thomas Cusack Jr. ``There are a lot of people here who used to live in Oak Park. You`ll have to ask them why they moved.``

Despite the chiding, the two town leaders agree that they share a volunteer spirit.

``We`ve got so many people who are spending a lot of time helping this village on committees and commissions, that is our plus,`` Cusack said.

``We`re one of the top communities in the metropolitan area because of our people, our physical location, our good housing stock. All anyone has to do is go up and down the streets and take a look at some of our houses.``